Apparatus for storing organic material

ABSTRACT

There is disclosed an apparatus for storing organic materials, the apparatus including: a body having an opening for receiving the organic materials to be stored; an outlet formed in the body through which the organic materials are unloaded from the body; a cooling fluid circuit for circulating cooling fluid through the organic material collected by the hopper.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/771,581, filed Apr. 27, 2018, which is a U.S. National StageApplication of PCT/AU2016/000366, filed 27 Oct. 2016, which claimsbenefit of Serial No. 2015904389, filed 27 Oct. 2015 in Australia andwhich applications are incorporated herein by reference. To the extentappropriate, a claim of priority is made to each of the above disclosedapplications.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a system and apparatus for storing andcollecting organic material, and in particular, to a system andapparatus for storing and collecting organic material from originatingsites to be used in food related applications.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the production of pet food, the ability to access fresh and highquality organic products, such as offal, is fundamental in providing ahigh quality product. Typically, offal includes the internal organs andentrails of animal, such as the animal's lungs, liver and variousconnective tissues, which are the result of a slaughtering process.Assess to such organic products is typically through registeredabattoirs and the like, which are set-up to slaughter animals fordomestic meat purposes, and the offal is typically a by-product of thisprocess that would otherwise be discarded.

During the livestock slaughtering process, the offal is typicallytransferred from an evisceration area of the kill floor to a collectionarea, where the offal is stored in a plurality of collection skips,generally having a volume of around one cubic metre. The collectionskips are able to be wheeled around the site are structured to collectand chill the offal for collection. Conventional skips typically employa woven mesh material located at an opening formed in the bottom of theskip, which is located over a drain sump. In order to chill thecollected offal, chilled water is poured into the skip and allowed todrain through the offal and out of the skip via the opening and onto thefloor. The resultant waste water drains into the sump and is pumped overheat exchange plates, before recirculating through sprays over the offalagain.

Typically, at the end of each day, the skips are collected andtransported to a pet food manufacturer or an agent for furtherprocessing of the offal. In cases where the pet food manufacturer islocated close to the abattoir, the skips filled with offal may becollected and transported to the manufacturer's site several times in aday and depending upon the distance to be travelled and the regularityof collection, ice may not be used to chill the skips.

However, due to the conventional locations of abattoirs, it is oftennecessary for the offal to be transported long distances between theabattoir and pet food manufacturer. As a result, in such instancesmaintaining the freshness of the offal can be problematic, particularlyin regions of high temperatures and during summer. This can be aproblem, even in situations where ice is used to chill the skips.

Conventional offal storage and collection systems can also be labourintensive, costly and subject to human handing error. The high cost ofice and water and the manual labour involved in chilling the offal ineach of the skips adds to the cost of the storage and collectionprocess. In addition, as the primary attention of most abattoirs isdirected to handling and processing of animal carcasses for meatproduction for human consumption, minimal resources are typicallyprovided by the abattoir to facilitate the storage and collectionprocess due to the relative low value of offal, especially in relationto human consumption.

Thus, there is a need to provide a system and apparatus for thecollection and storage of organic material invention which overcomes orameliorates one of more of the disadvantages or problems describedabove, or which at least provides the consumer with a useful choice.

The above references to and descriptions of prior proposals or productsare not intended to be, and are not to be construed as, statements oradmissions of common general knowledge in the art. In particular, theabove prior art discussion does not relate to what is commonly or wellknown by the person skilled in the art, but assists in the understandingof the inventive step of the present invention of which theidentification of pertinent prior art proposals is but one part.

STATEMENT OF INVENTION

The invention according to one or more aspects is as defined in theindependent claims. Some optional and/or preferred features of theinvention are defined in the dependent claims.

According to a first aspect, the present invention provides an apparatusfor storing organic material, the apparatus including a hopper forcollecting the organic materials, an outlet for unloading the organicmaterial from the hopper, and a cooling fluid circuit for circulatingcooling fluid through the organic material collected by the hopper.

Advantageously, the apparatus collects the organic material immediatelyafter evisceration, and reliably stores the material in an enclosedenvironment in compliance with food safety regulations. The coolingfluid circuit also provides automatic cooling to preserve the organicmaterial in a reliable and cost effective manner. Moreover, the outletallows convenient and automatic unloading of the organic material intoany suitable container for transportation to various pet foodmanufacturing facilities. The apparatus thereby provides an automaticsystem for collecting, storing, cooling and unloading the offal forfurther processing. The apparatus advantageously minimises the manuallabour required for its operation, thereby increasing reliability andreducing costs.

The hopper may include a drain trough for draining fluids from thehopper. The drain trough may extend the length of the floor of thehopper.

The apparatus may include a transfer mechanism for assisting thetransfer of organic material from the hopper to the outlet. The transfermechanism may include one or more auger shafts. Typically, the transfermechanism includes two or more auger shafts extending along the floor ofthe hopper. The auger shafts may be operatively configured to rotaterelative to one another so as to move the organic material from hopperto the outlet.

The transfer mechanism may be associated with a sieve system fordraining fluid from the organic material. The sieve system may beassociated with the drain trough. More particularly, the auger shaftsmay be further configured to operate as a sieve system from drainingfluid from the hopper. Each auger shaft may be associated with a draintrough. The auger shafts may have intermeshing threads which operate asa sieve system.

The threads of each auger shaft may be spaced from threads of anadjacent auger shaft by a predetermined distance so as to provideoptimal operation as a sieve. The intermeshing threats of adjacentthreads of auger shafts may provide a multi-layer sieve system. In oneembodiment, a top portion of the auger shafts provide a first meshhaving a first size, an intermediate portion of the auger shafts providea second mesh having a second side, and a bottom portion of the augershafts provide a third mesh having a third size. Typically, due to thecircular cross sectional shape of each auger shaft, the first mesh isgenerally larger in size than the second mesh and the third mesh. In oneembodiment, the size of apertures of the first mesh is roughly 25 mm×100mm, the size of apertures of the second mesh is roughly 13 mm×12 mm, thesize of apertures of the third mesh is roughly 6 mm×25 mm.

During operation of the apparatus, fluid from the organic material isdrained through the sieve and collected by the drain trough forfiltering and cooling by the cooling fluid circuit.

In some embodiments, the transfer mechanism includes two sets of augershafts. Each set of auger shafts may include four auger shafts. Theorientation of the threads of the auger shafts in one set may oppose theorientation of the threads of the auger shafts in the other set. Therotational direction of the auger shafts in the same set may be thesame. The direction of rotation direction of the auger shafts in one setmay be opposite to the direction of rotation of the auger shafts in theother set. During operation, the two sets of auger shafts rotate inopposing directions away from each other so as to push the organicmaterial towards one end of the hopper towards the outlet. Inparticular, the auger shafts of one set on a left side of the hopperrotates in an anti-clockwise direction, and the auger shafts of theother set on a right side of the hopper rotates in a clockwisedirection.

Advantageously, the arrangement of the auger shafts results in a highlyeffective, non-blocking sieve system to allow drainage of recirculatedchilled fluid from the organic material for reuse. Moreover, the augershafts may be configured relative to one another such that the transfermechanism is self-cleaning Typically, the movement of blades of oneauger shaft can effectively clean the blades of an adjacent auger shaft.

In some embodiments, the auger shafts may not intermesh. Adjacent augershafts may be separated by a divider.

The apparatus may include an unloading mechanism to facilitate movementof the organic material through the outlet for unloading the organicmaterial.

The unloading mechanism may include an auger shaft extending along alength of the outlet. The auger shaft may be configured to rotate aboutits axis to facilitate unloading of the organic material from theoutlet.

The cooling fluid circuit may include a heat exchanger for maintainingthe cooling fluid below a predetermined temperature.

The cooling fluid circuit may include a filter system for filtering thecooling fluid. The filter system may be self-cleaning Moreover, thefilter system includes an in-line filter having an in-line barrel filterand barrel sieve. The operation of the filter system may include highspeed rotation of the filter barrel.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a filterfor filtering fluid including a sieve for filtering the fluid, the sievehaving a generally cylindrical shape and configured to spin about itscentral axis, a driver for driving the spinning motion of the sieve tofacilitate cleaning of the filter.

The filter further includes a spindle and spray bar, the sieve beingmounted to the spindle and spray bar and configured to spin with thespindle and spray bar during a self-cleaning cycle.

The spindle and spray bar being configured to facilitate spraying ofcleaning fluid to clean an internal wall of the sieve.

The driver including a turbine assembly. The turbine assembly may bedriven by a high pressure fluid supply.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a methodof cleaning a filter including spinning a sieve of the filter about onits central axis.

The method may further include spraying a cleaning fluid to clean aninternal surface of the sieve.

According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided anapparatus for storing organic material as previously described having afilter as previously described above.

In order that the invention be more readily understood and put intopractice, one or more preferred embodiments thereof will now bedescribed, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanyingdrawings.

Reference throughout this specification to ‘one embodiment’ or ‘anembodiment’ means that a particular feature, structure or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment is included in at least oneembodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearance of the phrases‘in one embodiment’ or ‘in an embodiment’ in various places throughoutthis specification are not necessarily all referring to the sameembodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, orcharacteristic described herein may be combined in any suitable mannerin one or more combinations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may be better understood from the following non-limitingdescription of preferred embodiments, in which:

FIG. 1A is a side view of the body of an apparatus for storing organicmaterial according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1B is an end view of the body of the apparatus of FIG. 1B;

FIG. 1C is a cross-sectional view of section M of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2A is a top view of the body of the apparatus of FIGS. 1A and 1B;

FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of section N of FIG. 2B;

FIG. 2C is a close up detailed view of two adjacent auger shafts of theapparatus of FIG. 1A to 2B;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are schematic diagrams of transfer and drainingmechanism of the apparatus of FIGS. 1A to 2B;

FIG. 3C is a schematic diagram of the transfer and draining mechanismaccording to another embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate an apparatus for storing organic materialaccording to an embodiment of the present invention including the bodyas showing in FIGS. 1A to 2B and the cooling fluid circuit;

FIGS. 5A to 5D illustrate an in-line self-cleaning filter according toan embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred features of the present invention will now be described withparticular reference to the accompanying drawings. However, it is to beunderstood that the features illustrated in and described with referenceto the drawings are not to be construed as limiting on the scope of theinvention.

The present invention will be described below in relation to itsapplication to an apparatus for collecting and storing offal for petfood manufacturing purposes. However, it will be appreciated that thepresent invention could be equally applied to a variety of otherpurposes, including for collecting and storing organic matter for humanconsumption, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

A body of an apparatus for storing organic material is shown in FIGS. 1Aand 1B. The body 10 includes a hopper 12 for collecting the organicmaterials and an outlet 14 for unloading the organic material from thehopper 12. The hopper 12 is elevated and supported by a support frame17. The apparatus further includes a cooling fluid circuit (not shown)for circulating cooling fluid through the organic material collected bythe hopper 12. The outlet 14 has a knife gate (not shown) for sealingthe outlet 14 and for stopping the dispatch of organic material at theend of an unloading cycle. The cooling fluid circuit will be describedin further detail below.

In one embodiment, the hopper 12 and the support frame 17 are both madefrom stainless steel. The hopper may be of any suitable dimension. Forexample, the hopper may be roughly 4.5 m×1.4 m×2.3 m high or have acapacity of roughly 14 cubic meters. In this embodiment, the supportframe 17 may be roughly 4 m×2.5 m×2.5 m high.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the hopper 12 has an open top for collectingorganic material such as offal from an evisceration area or kill floorof an abattoir. The organic material may be manually loaded into thehopper 12. In one embodiment, the organic material is collected in aseparate holding tank on the kill floor of an abattoir and the organicmaterial is automatically pumped into the hopper 12 once the holdingtank is filled to a predetermined level. As more clearly shown in FIGS.1A and 1B, the floor is generally funnel shaped having two oppositelyinclined floor portions 16A, 16B, and an intermediate floor portion 18located between the inclined floor portions 16A, 16B. As more clearlyshown in FIG. 1B, the inclined floor portions 16A, 16B are inclinedtowards one another. As more clearly shown in FIG. 1A, the intermediatefloor portion 18 is gradually inclined towards the outlet 14, so as tofacilitate movement of organic material towards the outlet 14 duringunloading.

The body 10 further includes a transfer mechanism 20 disposed along theintermediate floor portion 18 for assisting the transfer of organicmaterial from the hopper 12 to the outlet 14.

As more clearly shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the transfer mechanism 20includes two sets of auger shafts 22A, 22B the two sets of auger shafts22A, 22B are generally symmetrical about a centre-line of the flat floorportion 18. As shown in FIG. 2C, the threads 28A of one auger shaft 22Ais offset from the threads 28B of an adjacent auger shaft 22A in thepair. In this configuration, the threads of one auger shaft effectivelyremoves organic material between the threads of an adjacent auger shaftto thereby enable self-cleaning of the auger shafts during operation.

Each set of auger shafts 22A, 22B includes four auger shafts (see FIG.2B, 3A, 3B) and each set of auger shafts 22A, 22B is operativelyconfigured to rotate to one another so as to move the organic materialalong the hopper 12 to the outlet 14. More particularly, all four augershafts in each set 22A and 22B rotates in the same direction duringoperation. When viewed from a left side of FIG. 2A, the auger shafts inset 22A rotate anti-clockwise during operation, and the auger shafts inset 22B rotate clockwise during operation such that the two sets ofauger shafts 22A, 22B rotate away from one another so as to push theorganic material away from the centre line 24 of the flat floor portion18 and gradually towards the outlet 14. The inclined floor portions 16A,16B of the hopper 12 act as a drive rail to move the organic materialtowards the outlet 14. Each set of auger shafts 22A, 22B is respectivelydriven by an independent motor 26 a, 26 b.

The transfer mechanism 20 also provides a sieve system 30 for drainingfluid from the organic material. As more clearly shown in FIGS. 3A and3B, each auger shaft 28 of a set 22A, 22B has a helical thread 32. Theauger shafts 28 are positioned side by side and the thread 32 ofadjacent auger shafts 28 are offset so that thread projections 32 a arereceived in space 35 b between the threads 32 b of the adjacent shaft 28(FIG. 3B).

In this manner, the intermeshed auger shafts 28 can also operate as asieve system 30 having three overlapping sieves. In particular, a topportion of the auger shafts 28 provide a top sieve having a mesh size ofroughly 25 mm×100 mm; an intermediate portion of the auger shafts 28provide an intermediate sieve having a mesh size of roughly 13 mm×12 mm;and a bottom portion of the auger shafts 28 provide a bottom sievehaving a mesh size of roughly 6 mm×25 mm.

As the auger shafts 28 rotate to transfer the organic material along thehopper 12 towards the outlet 14 during operation, the rotation of theauger shafts 28 also functions to unblock any material from the sievesystem 30 during drainage. In particular, the movement of a threadedprojection 32 a in a space 35 a between adjacent threaded projections 32b removes any material from the space 35 a, thereby unblocking the sievesystem 30.

As shown in FIG. 3A, each auger shaft 28 is associated with a draintrough 34. Fluid drained from the organic material is collected throughthe sieve system 30 and by the drain trough 34 located below each augershaft 28. The drained fluid is then filtered and cooled by the coolingfluid circuit before being redirected back into the hopper 12 forfurther cooling of the organic material.

According to an alternative embodiment as shown in FIG. 3C, adjacentauger shafts 28 a′, 28 b′ are separated by a divider 29. Like numericalreferences in FIG. 3c refer to like features previously described. Ithas been found that separating the auger shafts 28′ in this manner alsoprovides some filtering functionality without disposing the auger shafts28′ in an intermeshed manner.

Now referring to FIG. 1C, which is a cross-sectional view of section Mof FIG. 1A. The body 10 further includes an unloading mechanism in theform of an upright auger shaft 36 to facilitate movement of the organicmaterial through the outlet 14 for unloading the organic material. Therotation of the shaft 36 driven by motor 38 guides and pushes organicmaterial out of the hopper 12 via the outlet 14. The upright auger shaft36 is aligned with the opening of the outlet 14 so as to effectivelydirect material out of the outlet 14 during operation.

The apparatus 40 for storing the organic material according to anembodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 4B. The coolingfluid circuit 40 is shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B. The cooling fluid circuit40 includes a heat exchanger assembly 42 having an associatedcirculation pump (hidden), an in-line self-cleaning filter system 46,and an air pressure tank 44 are connected by pipework for circulatingcooling fluid within the circuit to chill the organic material in thehopper 12. As shown in FIG. 4B, various components of the circuit 40 aresupported within the support frame 17.

The cooling fluid circuit 40 circulates chilled fluid through theorganic material carried by the hopper 12 to thereby preserve theorganic material. As shown in FIG. 4A, sprinklers 48 are mounted to anopen top portion of the hopper 12 for continuously sprinkling chilledwater into the hopper 12. The chilled water flows through the organicmaterial carried by the hopper and combines with other fluids from theorganic material. The combined fluid is collected at the bottom of thehopper 12 and filtered through the sieve system 30, and then collectedin the drain troughs 34. Impurities are then removed from the fluid bypassing the fluid through the filter system 46. The filtered fluid isthen re-chilled to a predetermined temperature by passing the filteredfluid through the heat exchanger assemble 42. Typically, thepredetermined temperature is about 3° C. The re-chilled fluid is pumpedback into the hopper 12 via the sprinklers 48. Operation of the coolingfluid circuit 40 is typically controlled by a control panel having PLCs.

Typically, the in line filter system 46 includes an in-line barrelfilter and barrel sieve. Instead of conventional flushing or backwashmechanisms, the filter system 46 relies on high speed rotation of thefilter barrel creating a centrifugal force to throw off material caughton an external surface of the filter 46. The high speed spinning actionis created using compressed air directed onto turbine blades located atone end of the filter barrel. A fine spray of fresh water from a centralspray bar located within the sieve barrel can be used to clean theinternal surface of the sieve and to wash the material spun off from thefilter to waste.

The filter 46 is more clearly illustrated in FIGS. 5A to 5D. The filter46 includes a barrel shaped housing 52, a sieve barrel 54 located on acentral spindle and spray bar 56 within the housing 52. The centralspindle and spray bar 56 is typically located along a central elongateaxis of the barrel shaped housing 52. The sieve barrel 54 can be madefrom fine mesh stainless steel or nylon. For larger scale filters 46,the sieve barrel 54 can be made from perforated stainless sheet ofwedged wire.

The sieve barrel 54 is generally cylindrical and concentrically locatedwithin the housing 52 and fixedly mounted to the spindle and spray bar56 via a turbine assembly 58 so that the sieve barrel 54 rotatestogether with the spindle and spray bar 56.

As more clearly shown in FIG. 5C, the rotation of the spindle and spraybar 56 is driven by the turbine assembly 58, which is driven by highpressure fluid (e.g. air or water). The high pressure fluid is injectedvia inlets 60 a, 60 b located at opposite ends of a circumference of theturbine 58. The inlets 60 a, 60 b are connected by pipeline 62. As shownin FIG. 5C, the direction of the high pressure fluid flow will drive theturbine 58 to spin in an anti-clockwise direction.

A fluid flush circuit (not shown) incorporated in the spindle spray bar56. During flushing operations, the spindle is activated to spray fluid64 radially outwardly from the spray bar 56 towards the barrel sieve 58.Fluid for spraying is provided by the fluid flush circuit (see FIG. 5D).

During operation of the filter 46, contaminated fluid from the coolingfluid circuit 40 is passed into the filter 46 via inlet 64 controlled byinlet valve 66. Contaminated fluid is passed through the barrel sieve 54and becomes filtered fluid inside the barrel sieve 54. Filtered fluidexits the filter 46 via outlet 46, which is controlled via outlet valve70. The filter 46 further provides a waste outlet 72 controlled by wasteoutlet valve 74. Waste from self-cleaning operations of the filter canbe removed via the waste outlet 72. A transducer (not shown) is alsoprovided as each of the inlet 64 and outlet 68 to detect pressuredifferentials within the filter 46. Once the pressure differentialexceeds a predetermined amount (indicating that a large amount ofcontaminants have collected on the barrel sieve 54), self-cleaningoperations may be initiated.

During self-cleaning operations, filtered material builds up on outsideof sieve barrel 54 and flow is restricted causing an increasing pressuredifferential between the transducer in the inlet 64 and the transduceron the outlet 68. Once the pressure differential reaches a predeterminedamount, a self-cleaning cycle of the filter 46 is automaticallyinitiated. During the self-cleaning cycle, the filter 46 carries out thefollowing steps:

-   Stop supply pump and close inlet valve 66 so that fluid from the    cooling fluid circuit 40 is no longer being passed into filter 46.-   Open high pressure fluid supply so that high pressure fluid enters    the filter housing 52 via inlets 60 a, 60 b. The high pressure fluid    forces un-sieved fluid in the filter 46 through the sieve 54 and out    through the outlet 70 so as to empty filter 46.-   Once the filter 46 is emptied, the outlet valve 70 is closed, which    allows pressure to build up within the housing 52 as the high    pressure fluid supply continues to pass high pressure fluid into the    filter 46.-   Open waste outlet valve 74. Pressure built up within the housing 52    will;    -   instantly blow out any residual water in the sieve barrel 54;        and    -   immediately start high speed rotation of sieve barrel 54-   While sieve barrel 54 is spinning, open spray water to spray bar 56    to allow fine spray onto internal surface of sieve barrel 54. This    spray water will clean the internal surface of sieve barrel 54 and    assist removal of contamination from sieve barrel 54.-   After a predetermined time, the spray water 64, high pressure fluid    supply via inlets 60 a, 60 b are turned off and any remaining    material is allowed to drain through the waste outlet 72.-   The waste outlet valve 74 is then closed, and the inlet and outlet    valves 66, 70 reopened. The supply pump is restarted and fluid from    cooling fluid circuit 40 is passed through the filter 46 to continue    operation.

It has been found that the in line filter system 46 provides efficientcleaning of the filter with little to no residual hand up or slime, andminimal water lost during cleaning The filter system 46 involves simpleand reliable operation at low cost. In addition, the RPM of cleaningspin may be easily adjusted to suit the type and volume of filteredmaterial. There is also minimal water lost during self-cleaning Theturbine assembly 58 also provides excellent torque characteristics toovercome sludge overloading in the event that it occurs.

The operation of the apparatus 50 will now be described in relation tothe following operating cycles. The operating cycles are controlled by acontrol panel having PLC controllers (not shown).

1. Standby Cycle

All drain outlets of the apparatus 10 are open, and refrigeration of theheat exchanger 42 and external fluid supply are turned off The transferand unloading mechanisms 20, 36 are also inactive.

2. Fill/Chill Cycle

Once organic material is loaded into the hopper 12, the apparatus 50enters the fill/chill cycle. In this cycle, drain valves of the coolingfluid circuit 40 are closed, and the hopper 12 is filled with chilledwater via sprinklers 48 to a predetermined level. The predeterminedchilled water level is detected by sensors in the hopper 12.

Chilled water is combined with fluid from the organic material anddrained from the hopper 12 via the sieve system 30 and drain troughs 34.The drained fluid is filtered and passed into the heat exchanger 43 sothat it can be re-chilled to a predetermined temperature (e.g. 3° C.).

The re-chilled fluid is pumped from the heat exchanger 43 and redirectedinto the hopper 12 via sprinklers 48.

3. Unload Cycle

The organic material can be unloaded from the hopper 12 fortransportation and further processing during the unload cycle.

During the unloading cycle, the exit knife gate at the outlet 14 isopened. The upright auger shaft 36 and the transfer mechanism 20 areactivated by activating the independent motors 38, 26 a, and 26 b totransfer and unload the organic material from the outlet 14. Thedeactivation of the upright auger shaft 36 advantageously stops theunloading of the organic material without the need to close the knifegate at the outlet 14.

4. Drain Cycle

During the drain cycle, the cooling fluid circuit 40 no longerre-circulates chilled water through the organic material. Pumps in thecircuit 40 and refrigeration of the heat exchanger 42 are shut down andturned off The drain valves are opened and a cleaning cycle of thein-line filter 46 is initiated.

5. Clean in Place (CIP) Wash Cycle A

Wash cycle A is typically used when the hopper 12 is empty after thedrain cycle and it is desirable to clean the apparatus 50.

During operation, the drain valves are closed, the fluid circuit 40 isfilled with hot water and the heat exchanger 42 pump is used tocirculate the hot water through the circuit 40. The sprinklers 48 are onto allow washing of the internal surface of the hopper 12. Additionalspray balls are located in the top area of the hopper to specificallywash the roof and top sides of the hopper during the CIP Cycle.

The clean cycle of the in-line filter 46 is also initiated. Theapparatus 50 automatically returns to the standby cycle aftercompletion.

6. CIP Wash Cycle B

Wash cycle B is typically used when it is desirable to clean the coolingfluid circuit 40 when the hopper 12 still holds some organic material.During thus cycle, the heat exchanger continues to be used torefrigerate water to be recirculated to chill the organic material. Thefollowing steps are executed during wash cycle B:

-   Pumps shut down-   Refrigeration turned off-   Clean Cycle of in-line filter initiated-   Drain valves opened-   Drain valves closed after full draining-   System filled with hot water-   Spray Pneumatic actuators close sprays into hopper-   Heat exchange pump (high pressure—high volume) is circulated    throughout the recirculation pipework, shell & tube heat exchanger-   The sprays are left closed so pipework is cleaned but no hot water    gets into hopper or product-   The spray balls are not actuated-   On completion hot water is drained and the Fill/Chill Cycle    re-started

It will be appreciated that the collection and storage apparatus 50 ofthe present invention provides a point for collecting and storing offalthat quickly places the collected offal in a state suitable for storageand maintains the offal in a state of freshness for collection. Byquickly applying chilled water to the collected offal, which may beinitially at around 38° C., the chilled water can be recirculatedthrough the material rapidly reducing the temperature of the material toa temperature suitable for storage, for example, around 4° C. Thus thehopper apparatus is able to store the material for longer, withoutrequiring much operator support.

By providing numerous abattoirs with this apparatus, a processing plant,such as a pet food processing plant, can better plan pick-up of offalfrom the various sites and is no longer dictated by time limits wherebythe offal will lose its freshness and no longer be suitable forprocessing.

Such a system of providing the hopper apparatus on-site at the abattoirenables owners and operators of processing plants the ability toremotely monitor the collected material via the hopper apparatus suchthat transport logistics can be better staggered and co-ordinated topick-up the material from the various abattoir sites without thematerial becoming unusable by being stored at too high temperatures. Aswill be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the ability to bettermanage logistics associated with the collection and storage of theorganic material, significant costs savings can be made and wastagereduced, resulting in a System of collecting organic material that ismore profitable and user friendly.

Throughout the specification and claims the word “comprise” and itsderivatives are intended to have an inclusive rather than exclusivemeaning unless the contrary is expressly stated or the context requiresotherwise. That is, the word “comprise” and its derivatives will betaken to indicate the inclusion of not only the listed components, stepsor features that it directly references, but also other components,steps or features not specifically listed, unless the contrary isexpressly stated or the context requires otherwise.

Orientational terms used in the specification and claims such asvertical, horizontal, top, bottom, upper and lower are to be interpretedas relational and are based on the premise that the component, item,article, apparatus, device or instrument will usually be considered in aparticular orientation, typically with the hopper uppermost.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that manymodifications and variations may be made to the methods of the inventiondescribed herein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

The claims defining the invention are as follows:
 1. A filter forfiltering particulate material from a contaminated fluid, comprising: ahousing having an inlet for receiving the contaminated fluid from acontaminated fluid source and an outlet for releasing filtered fluidtherefrom; a sieve mounted within the housing, the sieve having agenerally cylindrical shape and being mounted on a spindle such that itis able to rotate about a central axis, the sieve having perforationsformed therein to permit the contaminated fluid to pass therethrough; aturbine assembly mounted to an end of the sieve, the turbine assemblybeing actuable to impart rotational motion to the sieve to rotate thesieve about the central axis; and a spray bar centrally mounted withinthe sieve to spray fluid in a radial direction toward an inner surfaceof the sieve; wherein, the outlet is located within the sieve such thatthe contaminated fluid passes from the inlet and through the sieve toexit from the outlet as filtered fluid and any particulate materialpresent in the contaminated fluid is removed by the sieve, and whereinparticulate material collected by the sieve is removed from the housingby activating the turbine assembly to rotate the sieve and the spray barto spray fluid onto the inner surface of the sieve thereby releasing theparticulate material from the sieve for disposal from the housing.
 2. Afilter according to claim 1, wherein the housing is barrel shaped.
 3. Afilter according to claim 2, wherein spindle and the spray bar arelocated along a central elongate axis of the barrel shaped housing.
 4. Afilter according to claim 1, wherein the sieve is fixedly mounted to thespindle and spray bar via the turbine assembly such that the sieverotates together with the spindle and spray bar.
 5. A filter accordingto claim 4, wherein the turbine assembly is driven by a high pressurefluid.
 6. A filter according to claim 5, wherein the high pressure fluidis pressurised air or pressurised water.
 7. A filter according to claim5, wherein the high pressure fluid is injected into the turbine assemblyby fluid inlets located at opposite ends of the turbine assembly and thefluid inlets are connected by a pipeline.
 8. A filter according to claim1, wherein flow of the contaminated fluid entering the inlet of thehousing is controlled by an inlet valve.
 9. A filter according to claim8, wherein flow of filtered fluid exiting the outlet is controlled by anoutlet valve.
 10. A filter according to claim 9, wherein a transducer isprovided in the inlet and the outlet to detect pressure differentialstherebetween to determine an amount of particulate material present onthe surface of the sieve.
 11. A filter according to claim 10, whereinupon the pressure differential between the transducer in the inlet andthe transducer in the outlet reaching a predetermined amount, theturbine assembly is activated to remove the particulate materialcollected by the sieve from the housing.